El Madrigal memories flood back for McLeish
Rangers’ trip to Villarreal this week has rekindled memories of a dramatic evening at El Madrigal back in 2006. Then, the Light Blues were playing for a place in the Champions League quarterfinals against Spanish hosts who had shown their quality in the first leg in Glasgow. “It was a 2-2 draw at Ibrox, after which everybody kind of wrote us off, didn’t they?” recalled Alex McLeish, the Rangers manager at the time and now in charge of Scotland. “For us, it meant it was an all-ornothing situation over there. “Peter Lovenkrands got us off to a flyer with the early goal, which was great. “But while overall we managed to do a number on Riquelme, their main man who had been very effective at Ibrox, he did manage to slip Diego Forlan in behind which led to their equaliser. “At 1-1, the ball flashed across the goals for Kris Boyd. One of those which normally he would’ve scored nine times out of 10. “That night, though, he just didn’t connect right. “But for that we’d have been through to the Champions League quarter-finals. It was a fantastic double-header performance from the guys. We were so close to the last eight.” Twelve years on, and the latest renewal sees the clubs drawn together in the Europa League in a group which also includes Rapid Vienna and Spartak Moscow. “It’s a tough line up for Rangers and travelling to Villarreal is a difficult game to start off with,” said McLeish. “They’ve been playing at the top for a long, long time and it’s a new Rangers team going in against them. “Steven Gerrard, Gary McAllister and the other coaches have done sterling work since coming in over the summer. They have organised them really well. “Specifically, it is a great achievement for Rangers to get back into a European group. It’s smashing. “They’ve not done it for a while, and the start of the season last year in Europe was a bit doom and gloom. “Now there’s a bit of brightness about Ibrox because the new side has shown real character to progress through a lot of qualifying rounds in the last few weeks.” McLeish’s 2006 situation could scarcely have been more different to the one Gerrard is in. Where the England icon is at the very start of his journey, both at Rangers and in management, the man who leads the national team was, if not at the end of the road, then coming down the hill towards it. “I had already said, I think by that time, that I would leave Ibrox that summer. I had made that statement before Villarreal,” McLeish recalled. “It was an unusual one for Scottish football. Something that happens in Europe quite a lot that you know, the team knew, there was a new guy (Paul Le Guen) coming in the summer. “They seem to do it like that a bit more often in Europe. “But David Murray and I agreed. When I got to the last 16, I had a chat to him. I said, ‘Do you want me to go? I will go now if you want.’ “He said, ‘No, no. I don’t want anyone else leading the team out against Villarreal other than you. “So from then to the end of the season, we went on a really good run. I think we were undefeated in the last 20-odd games when we got most of the players back from injury.” In the present day, McLeish’s connection with the Govan outfit is restricted to selecting players for his national squad, something which does give him a vested interest in the progress of Scottish talent at the club. “For a few years, the Scotland manager wasn’t really looking at Rangers for players,” he said. “Now, though, that is not the case. “We have Ryan Jack and Jamie Murphy, sadly sidelined for a while, plus Allan McGregor, who is playing at a fantastic level at the moment with his performances in Europe and at Celtic Park. “Ryan is trying to be a specialist in a certain role. He is a jack-of-all-trades, though, he can play right-back, I am sure he can play a two in midfield. “He just needs to get a bit quicker passing in international football! “It’s been a good start for Rangers in Europe and I think they’ll be itching to play Celtic again after the disappointment of that first Old Firm game.”